Trials of Dimensions
by Phaerix
Summary: The gap between Nintendo and DC Comics has been breached--in possibly the strangest way possible. The Teen Titans meet some of the stars of the video game world, though the heroes aren't the only ones who happened upon our Earth.
1. Explosion

31 March, 2001

11:54 PM

Advanced Technology and Research Laboratory, Jump City, California.

"I… I think we've made a breakthrough!" One young scientist called out. "The chronitons… they're displacing!" She beckoned her coworkers with a slim hand and a flick of long, black hair.

A quick shuffling of feet, and countless faces surrounded the one seated man. They scrunched their eyes up at the screen and read the display. The first reaction was a gasp. "But they're not being destroyed… time isn't stopping in the test area."

As the scientists collectively rose and looked ahead, they saw a canister. It was a thin, cylindrical apparatus, hanging from the middle of the white ceiling to the bottom of the equally stainless tile floor. The room it was in contained nothing but a single, multi-lock door. The scientist input a keystroke, and within the canister, something stirred. It was a nigh-invisible pulse, known only to those watching the screen.

"However, it may be because the time displacement isn't significant enough to report anything. The wristwatch we placed in the canister isn't showing any side effects either," a bearded scientist droned.

"What should we do? Increase chromium concentration?" the young scientist piped up.

The bearded scientist stroked his white whiskers. "No… increase the canister's temperature. If we want to _destroy_ the chronitons, then we may as well break scientific law—we will annihilate them."

The young scientist seemed worried. "B-but sir…"

"Do it," the old man glared.

Gulping, she pushed a lever forward, and the room ahead of her took on a red hue.

"A discovery _will_ be made tonight…"

0=0

A figure in orange armor landed on a rocky outcropping. It rained across the gray sky, pelting the figure's green visor with tiny droplets. She raised her right arm—a dark green cannon—and surveyed her surroundings. She walked forward, stepping down and away from her similarly-armored spacecraft. As she walked, she pressed a number of buttons that flipped out on the cannon's side.

_Blip. Bl-blip._

A map appeared on the visor displaying a limited view of her surroundings. Peering off to the side, there was a small cave. Walking through it was not a hassle, but the next visible opening was a small hole, about twice the size of a soccer ball. The armored figure curled up into a ball, converted into blue energy, and encased herself in an orange armored ball. She rolled through the opening and converted back to her previous humanoid shape in a flash of bright blue light. To the left was a waterfall with various rocky outcroppings. It was a sight of serenity. Out there the rain continued to fall, and the figure walked towards what appeared to be a carved-out hallway.

_Blip, blip. _

The visor displayed a screening of the very next area beyond the hallway—there was high-energy reading coming from there. Its pace quickened, but slowed once in the immediate area. It was sandy, but there were four stone pillars, ancient and hardly recognizable as artistic. There was a certain stillness in the area, yet there was a disturbance. Something felt off. Sand-covered birds flew overhead in the clear sky.

The walls were adorned with statues of humanoid birds. Long, gangly limbs, piercing eyes, thin beaks, wide shoulders.

The figure raised her arm cannon. Nothing stirred. An airborne ripple. Was it a threat? Was it a living thing? She seemingly couldn't tell, and cautiously walked towards the center of the ripple. A small but incessant beeping alerted her to the aggregate amount of danger in a given radius. The beeping decreased the closer the figure got to the source, and thus surmised there was no threat—she lowered her weapon.

She walked closer.

The ripple shuddered again. The figure reached out her armored left hand to touch the ripple, and her fingers partially disappeared. In surprise she recoiled, pulling her fingers back. Surprisingly, those digits were still intact. Relieved, the figure seemed to confidently walk towards the ripple, immersing herself in it.

Warbling could be heard across the planet.

She was gone.

0=0

He hopped on top of one floating block, jumped off with hard, brown work shoes, and plummeted down to stomp on a brown mushroom-like entity with large, cartoonish eyes and a toothy grin. It flattened in an instant. He bounced off, flipping over himself and landing gracefully. He adjusted his red cap and rugged overalls with spotless white gloves, wiggled his black mustache, and dashed towards a tall mountain. To his left was a giant flail attached to a wooden post. It was over three times the size of the capped man, and its chain wriggled behind it. The flail had eyes and a gigantic mouth, like Pacman's hellish twin. It appeared to have a bite _much _worse than its bark, and it gnashed its teeth together in unblinking watchfulness.

It guarded a golden star, kept captive in a wrought iron cage in the side of a marble-white hill. It shone in its captivity, spinning about as if it were free. Mysteriously, though it could freely twirl about itself, it would not slip itself through the thick, spaced bars.

The monster kept its googly eyes on the mustachioed man, all the while gnashing its teeth. As the man slowed his approach, the monster slid in order to remain in front of him. The man suddenly dashed. The monster charged with surprising speed, knocking the man back quite a distance. "Doh!"

"RUFF! RUFF!" The monster loudly barked.

He stood up, wheezed, and brushed himself off. "Mama mia," he sighed in a thick Italian accent. He immediately sprinted, jumped once, jumped closer again, and jumped a third time—flipping forwards acrobatically over the monstrous ball-and-chain. As the metallic creature slammed back to the ground, the man planted his feet atop it, vaulted off, and pounded his shoes into the wooden post, shoving it into the ground. "Yah!"

The monster's chain snapped.

It hesitated, gnashed its teeth, and stared into nothing. The monster rushed back and forth, avoiding the mustached man, and rammed its seemingly indestructible self into the iron cage.

The cage was smashed apart. The monster barked again, and leapt up and over the hill, leaving the Italian with the spoils. Not wasting any time, he rushed up and jumped towards the golden prize. "Here we go!" he shouted exuberantly. A ripple shimmered ahead of the star, but the glowing object neither saw nor could tell.

The mustached Italian was denied.

0=0

The two-edged sword glinted as it was twirled and sheathed. As the blue hilt clicked with the sheath, a pair of green-skinned, horned orc-like creatures exploded into magic, black dust. He was the last one standing. He himself was dressed in a green tunic and elfin hat, a leather belt, brown boots and gauntlets, white leggings, and chain mail. Well armed and armored, he placed his shield behind him. He ran a rough hand through his dirty blonde hair, avoiding the points of his ears, and sighed. He walked through the forest, content that he had slain the last of them for a while. Golden light softly cut through the leaves, warming him. The forest opened up to a clearing, a wide, green field below a pleasant blue sky. A castle lay in the distance. His lips curved as he started towards the stone walls.

From behind the trees, at least a dozen more of the orc-like creatures peered at the complacent warrior. They looked at each other. A number nodded. The creatures slinked back behind the trees.

The warrior was alone. Without a care, he was distinctly unguarded and off-guard. The creatures could have struck at any time, and he would be oblivious and vulnerable.

He thought of his home, found in another nearby forest. His childhood friends, the youngsters that wanted to be just like him, and the rampaging goats. He laughed at the thought.

"Mr. Link! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!" came a voice in the distance. Link cringed. The source of the voice drew closer and closer, revealing a lanky man in a fit white tunic and a tall red hat. A flag was on his back, vaguely spelling out the words 'Postman' in some nondistinct script. "Huh-hoo, huh-hoo, huh-hoo!" He reached the warrior. "Greetings, Mr. Link! I have come to deliver a letter."

Link looked confused, and rubbed his capped head.

"There is a letter for you, Link. Two letters, in fact!" The Postman reached into a space behind him and pulled out a pair of red envelopes. He hummed a tune.

Apprehensively, Link reached out to grab the letters.

The Postman saluted, and proudly stated, "Well, my business is concluded. Onward to mail!" He turned about and jogged in the direction from which he came. "Huh-hoo, huh-hoo, huh-hoo!" His voice disappeared into the distance.

Link rubbed his face. He put the letters into a small pouch behind him… with six more crumpled, unread letters. The sky above was a ominous, hazy yellow above the castle.

A grunt. The green-clad warrior turned.

An empty field.

A grunt. _Closer. _Link fingered his sword's hilt. He shifted his eyes left, then right. _Empty field._

_Behind!_

As Link twirled, he brought both hands down, sword in tow. Three of the creatures were severed in two while the remainder swarmed about on Link's rear, armed with clubs and brutish blades. Link brandished his blade and shield and positioned the sharper of the two horizontally behind him. He held the shield close by as he crouched low. The creatures did not hesitate—and immediately charged him from all sides. Something glinted in Link's eyes as he began to spin on one foot, slashing his sword in a violent pirouette of pain. Not expecting this, the orc-like beings were all slashed away, grunting in midair. They all landed flat on their backs, unmoving in the slightest… except for one.

Link flourished his sword, hung his shield on his back, and sheathed it. In like manner as before, the creatures dissipated in a puff of black smoke. The warrior continued towards the castle, where the sky became increasingly dark. Link averted his gaze upward, where dark particles hovered in the air like falling ash.

The atmosphere seemed unnerving. Shimmering waves of air appeared across the castle walls and in front of Link. He looked to that castle in horror.

The one remaining creature charged into Link, crude blade gnarled yet ready. Unaware, the warrior was shoved forward, into nothing.

Bewildered, the creature took cautious steps towards where just a few seconds ago, his prey lingered. It rubbed its leather-clad skull, and slashed at the air ahead of him. His sword disappeared and reappeared. "Ehh?" It slashed again. The sword was gone and there again.

The creature pulled out a bullhorn and blew into it, sending a cacophony of a trumpet sound across the empty plain.

It hobbled away from the ripple as a torrent of angry hooves pounded the green earth from afar.

0=0

"Split up and take it to 'em!" the leader spoke into the communicator. His aircraft was sleek, shaped like an arrowhead. Its one thruster surged, and it soared through the air towards a lone building among snowy hills. His wingmen, each flying the same craft, trained their sights on the numerous square-shaped ships swarming out and around the base. "This is the base?"

"Seems like it," came an aged voice.

One enemy ship was shot down. "Scratch one bogey," came another. This voice sounded like it belonged in New York.

A pair of square ships took aim on the leader. Smirking vulpine lips, he maintained cruising speed for barely a second before looping up and over the paired craft as they began a steady stream of red laser fire. "Wait, what happened?" One of the pilots shouted.

"We lost visual!" the other reported. The two banked right, steering their craft back towards the base. In an instant, the arrow-like craft was behind them, firing blue lasers at their exhaust. One stream hit home. "Behind?! Evasive maneuvers!"

"No chance!" the leader confidently shouted. He pulled the trigger, showering the slower craft with powerful plasma. It wobbled, it weaved, but it wouldn't take the punishment. The target's engines cut. Trailing red fire and smoke, the craft fell from the sky.

"Jimmy!" the other called out to his fallen wingmate. "You'll pay for this, Star Fox!"

The leader laughed. "Haha, we're just mercenaries." He pulled the trigger again, ending the remaining ship's days.

"Good going, Fox!" the aged voice came over the comlink.

"Thanks, Peppy. There should be a few more to go, let's take 'em out!" Fox said.

Ripples shimmered in the air of the planet. Some wrinkled over the air above the base, others stationed closer to the mountains. The Star Fox members paid no mind to it, shutting down square spacecraft left and right. Fox and the ace pilot Falco shot down a fairly large amount of rogue craft, while the other two picked off the stragglers.

The most sluggish of the four team members was a young, sprightly frog with a red cap named Slippy. He frequently was chased by enemy craft, requiring saving by the other members. Despite this, he served well as a keen analyst. Falco and Peppy often picked on Slippy for incompetent flying. The team was rounded out by a robot on board their mothership, the Great Fox.

A mechanical voice buzzed over the comlink. "Anomalies detected on planet's surface."

Fox had a quizzical look on his face. "What kind of anomalies, ROB?" His lasers struck home with an aircraft, exploding the engine from within. The craft was obliterated in midair.

"Scanners indicate temporal-spatial rifts in numerous locations across this planet," it replied. "Flying in this airspace would be ill-advised, Fox."

"We'll have to chance it. We have to defend the base. Can you send down coordinates?" A square fell from the sky, scraping away at the ground instead. A number of fighters began to head on an evacuation route.

ROB buzzed. "Affirmative. Sending coordinates now."

"Fox, come in!" Slippy's high voice squeaked across the airwaves. "I have a question for you!"

Suspiciously, Fox uttered, "Go ahead, Slippy." He shot down another aircraft.

"If we're supposed to be _defending this, _why are the ships _running away?_"

"Because we're… winning?" Fox hesitantly said as another ship was blown apart.

"Even then, they have us severely outnumbered."

Fox rolled his eyes and sighed. "Geez, can anyone take care of it?" He swerved to avoid a ripple. Each rift began to grow larger and larger, overtaking some part of the base and the mountains. Pieces of the landscape began disappearing. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the controls hard to the right to steer away from another ripple. "There're too many! I can't avoid them all!"

"Keep it together, Fox!" Peppy encouraged. His aircraft rolled in the air, narrowly avoiding a ripple himself. Another appeared beside him. "They're everywhere!" Peppy guided his craft to and fro, dodging rifts like they were solid pillars. There was a large beeping on Peppy's radar. A giant rift lay ahead, and it was growing at an alarming rate. It swallowed a tower, a mountain, and a large patch of the earth below that. Peppy pulled hard at his controls, braking and flying up. Performing a quick u-turn, he jetted off in the opposite direction.

And into a rift. "Oh… no."

Peppy disappeared.

"Peppy?" Fox called into the speaker. "Peppy? Report!"

"He's gone!" Falco said, incredulous. He shot down a ship and gunned his engines towards the rift Peppy disappeared in. "I'm goin' after him!"

Slippy pulled at his joysticks and jetted in that direction as well. "Don't count me out!"

Determined, Fox took one look towards the sky. "Sorry, General." Fox pushed his thruster to maximum.

The three followed their friend into the unknown.

ROB was still there in space, within the hull of the giant spacecraft. It crossed its arms, giving off a mechanical smirk. "Fleshlings."

0=0

1 April, 2001

12:34 AM

Advanced Technology and Research Laboratory, Jump City, California.

The lab was quiet. Lights flickered on and off. Scientists were strewn across the darkened floor and broken apparatuses. Sparks flew from half-functional devices. The glass separating the control room and the room with the canister was shattered. The canister itself lay in broken pieces on the cold tile floor. Smoke filtered up from the ruins, and four giant holes could be seen in the once-pristine walls. Long, trench-like gashes were seen in the tile, the ceiling, and the walls. The holes and gashes led out into the cold spring night, where smoke continued to rise from four craters. There was no ripple to be seen or sensed.

Robin planted his steel-toed boots on the laboratory rooftop. His eyemask narrowed at the sight of the rising smoke. Starfire hovered next to him, followed by a squawking Beast Boy. He shook off a few green feathers from his arm. Below, a blue-and-white vehicle screeched to a stop next to the craters. Cyborg and Raven stepped out of the T-Car. Under the light of the moon, the Teen Titans stood ready.

Robin called out into the smoke cloud. "We know you're there! Come out!"

A large popping sound urged from the cloud, followed by a clanking sound. In a brief second, there was a straight line of transparent blue between the top of the smoke cloud and Robin. He crossed his arms to guard himself, but there was no impact. Robin stood for a moment, holding his pose. "What happened?" He was answered with a harsh blow to the small of his back. In the midst of the Teen Titans, an anthropomorphic fox crouched. He wore a helmet that covered very little of his head, as his vulpine ears were largely in the way. He dashed and sent a flying red-and-black boot towards Robin. Seeing this, the Boy Wonder dodged to the side and fired off a steel-toed boot of his own at the passing fox. The animal growled and backflipped up and over it, hooking a gloved fist at the masked face.

Cyborg blocked the blow with his palm, gripped it, and flung the fox into the sky. "You gotta do better than that!" His right arm formed a sonic cannon, and zapped a bright blue beam towards the airborne foe. "RAAAUGH!" The fox gasped, and hastily pulled out a small, hexagonal device and angled it towards the ground. A blue field formed in front of him, reflecting the beam down towards the android's feet.

Cyborg was knocked to the ground, and Starfire swooped in with a starbolt-charged fist. "HAA!" Not reacting in time, the fox uttered a curse as he plummeted towards the ground.

Raven meditated. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Some of the rubble from the broken lab wall was coated in black energy and hurled in the fox' direction. The blue field rose again, reversing the momentum of the rocks and hurtling them down and away. Beast Boy charged in from behind as a ram and plowed his horns into the fox's gray-jacketed back. He flew back into the building side, trashing more of the battered wall. He groaned, out for the count.

Eyemask thin, Robin walked over to the fallen animal. Cyborg performed a quick scan, noting, "He's still alive. We just got him good."

"What would he have wanted around here? As far as I remember, they hardly did anything in this lab."

"They don't publish their findings, Robin," Cyborg remarked.

"Check the wreckage. There might be something there that could have been stolen from the lab," Robin ordered. As they began pacing towards the wreckage…

An orange blur. A trail of sparks.

Beast Boy widened his eyes. "Dude! Was that the Flash?!"

Raven frowned. "What would he be doing on the West Coast? Alone?"

"If it was the Flash," Robin began, "he would have said something. He's not the strong, silent type. Titans, after it!"

"What of the anthropomorphic vulpine?" Starfire inquired.

"He's down, Star. If he gets back up, we can take him back down later," Cyborg replied as he pressed a few buttons on his arm. _Blip. _"Huh? Yo, Robin!"

The Boy Wonder skidded to a stop. "What is it?"

"My sensors show two more life forms over there."

"I don't suppose you can determine whether or not they're _hostile._"

Cyborg shook his head. "'Fraid not, Rob."

As if on cue, the smoke cleared in a small gust, revealing a red cap with an emblazoned M on the front. "Hmm!" In the light of the moon, the figure wore white gloves, overalls, a red shirt, and dark work shoes. A little pudgy and somewhat short, he wiggled his mustache… which was just a little more than a stubble. A yellow cape twirled in his hand, and disappeared in an instant. He raised his gloved fists, expecting the worst.

Robin struck a fighting stance. "Who are you?"

"My name's-a Mario!" he replied in a thick, Italian accent. "Who are you?"

"I'm Robin, and we're the Teen Titans. We're investigating an attack on these laboratory grounds. Were you responsible for it?"

Mario dropped his pose. "Attack? No. I was-a searching for stars…"

Robin furrowed his brows. "Stars?"

Beast Boy looked up to the sky and piped in, "You know, if you're looking for those, you're not really going about it the right way, dude."

Mario rubbed his face. "No, I was-a right there, about to grab it… and then I-a ended… up… here." Something flashed in his moonlit blue eyes. "Where am I?"

Quizzically, Cyborg responded, "Uh, we're in Jump City, man."

"No," Mario defiantly said. "_Where am I?_"

0=0

Panting.

A metal armored hand on concrete. Orange armor heaving. Electricity sparked in a line far behind her. In the moonlit street, she crawled her way into a darkened alley. She leaned up against a wall, pressing her hand to her red helmet. "This… is Samus Aran. Galactic Federation… do you copy?" She was met with harsh static. "Federation, _do you copy?_"

"_Ssssnnnkt._" Still nothing.

Sighing, Samus removed her red helmet. Her scraggly platinum blonde hair shimmered in the moonlight. "What's… going on here?" She trained her blue eyes on a somewhat distant newspaper stand.

_31 March, 2001._

_Death of Clifford Shull._

"That… was ages ago…" She narrowed her vision at the twinkling lights. "What happened?"

0=0

"Earth?" Mario blinked. "Where in the world is Earth?"

Starfire wrung her hands. "Then… where is it that you hail from?"

"Mushroom Kingdom," he proudly declared.

Silence.

"Which is currently in danger…"

Narrowing his one human eye, Cyborg asked, "So where is this… 'Mushroom Kingdom' of yours?"

"On the Mushroom World."

Silence.

…Broken by Beast Boy and his laughter. "Haha! Dude, is there an 'Heroin World' too?" Swiftly, Raven callously slapped him upside the head. "Duuuude! Not cool!"

Raven said nothing.

Frowning, Mario thanked her. "I have to get-a back. Bowser already has-a control over the Kingdom."

"There were other crashes here," Robin began. "Maybe all of you are connected somehow, and they'll need to get back to where they came from, too."

"It's-a possible," Mario nodded.

0=0

"Well, this is… unexpected," a cold, methodical voice uttered from a shadowed throne. He watched several screens ahead of him, each of which portraying a different angle of the scene at the laboratory. Surrounding his throne were gigantic gears, clicking and clacking away to some unknown rhythm. He folded his hands in front of him, calculating.

His one emblazoned eye gazed upon each, focusing on the screens that showed the newcomers. Another figure had emerged from the smoke, this one wielding a sword and a shield. He looked ready to impale, yet something held him back. The Teen Titans approached him with the red-capped figure, and they began to talk. The one with the weapons put the metal away, crossing his arms. Robin seemed to explain something to him.

His eye narrowed. His voice grew seething. "I have had two failures with apprentices in the past, but there's an old saying… that the third time's the charm." Slade casually glanced behind his throne, where three wrought-iron cages surrounded three shadowed figures. He then glared at one screen ahead of him.

The one with the unconscious fox.


	2. Mire

1 April, 2001

1:29 AM

Main Room, Titan's Tower, Jump City, California.

"For the time being, you guys can stay here," Robin announced. "We have open rooms throughout the Tower, so make yourselves at home."

Cyborg yawned. "We'll help you get started in the morning. For now… I'm going to catch some shuteye. 'Night y'all…" He pressed his hand to a console next to the door. "Security's all set."

"Okey dokey," Mario nodded.

Starfire floated limply to a pair of sliding doors. Already half-asleep, her form seemed more like an amber ghost in scant purple sheets. Her green eyes and amber eyelids were both heavy on her, and she simply disappeared behind the metal. Robin slowly ambled towards his own abode. With his shoulders slumped, Cyborg shuffled to his own laboratory/room. Beast Boy stretched, then slinked off to his quarters. Raven was the last of the Titans. She looked cautiously at the three newcomers, and she phased through the walls without a word.

Link, who carried Fox in from the previous encounter, carefully set him down on the Titans' round black sofa. Sighing, Link surveyed his surroundings. Cold, metal walls encased the room. Outside the window, there lay unnatural lights in the city, wholly unfamiliar to him. Everything was so angular. Nothing was earth-bound anymore.

Link wore a face of skepticism. The people he had just met, they were all… futuristic. They were far beyond his time. He turned his attention to Mario, who gazed out at the silent night ahead of them as well. They exchanged glances, and then they looked behind them at the now-slumbering Fox. The vulpine creature's helmet had broken following the brawl with the Titans, leaving his head of reddish-brown fur to be visited by the soft moonlight. Fox curled up like a dog on the sofa, despite all humanoid regalia on his person.

Mario hummed. The whole situation was too good to be true. Immediately after winding up in an unknown area, these strangers have offered to lodge him and two others for a night. Did they have some other motivation for keeping them in their home? Mario tapped his foot. Glancing back to Link, he noticed the elfin boy sitting with his back to the window, holding a blue object to his mouth. It was shaped somewhat like a potato, and had a number of holes in it. There was an extension from its center, and Link held that piece to his mouth. He blew, granting the red-capped teenager a soft song. Its melody was ethereal, old, yet somehow _timeless. _Mario kept listening as he sat down on the other end of the sofa. He pulled his cap over his eyes, resting his hands atop his slightly plump belly. He tried to remember his task at hand: free the Castle. Yet, at present he could do no such thing. He rubbed his stubble. Somehow he had grown younger again. As Link's song floated into his ears, Mario lulled into sleep.

Link continued to play, his eyes closed. He rocked gently to his own tune, letting its soft rhythms reverberate across the metal-encased room.

His song ended. Setting it and his hands in his lap, he once again stared out at the cityscape that the Tower overlooked day in and day out. The green-capped boy sighed. He recalled the events that occurred just before he entered thisworld. He just fought off hordes of Bulbins, expecting to see and do battle again with their monstrous King. And then, without warning, he was shoved here.

Something flashed in blue eyes.

_Yellow haze._

_Faceless black demons._

_Piercing howls._

_Inhuman shrieks._

"_LINK!"_

_A rustling of a thick cloak._

_A chameleon-shaped helmet. _

_Deranged laughter._

"_**LINK!"**_

The elfin boy panted. He grasped his chest. In a tired, frustrated voice, he uttered to the night, "What does this mean?"

0=0

In the morning the Titans arose. Robin was the first out, and immediately began his own preparations for breakfast. Cyborg and Beast Boy were the next, both heading towards the refrigerator with frantic expressions on their faces.

"No way, man! We are _not _having tofu waffles again!"

Indignant, Beast Boy shoved Cyborg aside with a gorilla's meaty arm. "Dude, tofu is the _only _way to go! I've decided to be a vegetarian, and you and your meat brigade can shove it!"

Link was still shaken from his thoughts from a few hours previous. "Morning, guys."

"Link, was it?" Robin mentioned over the sound of his cooking eggs. The white-skinned elf nodded. "Good to see you're well. You guys had it rough last night."

In the midst of a wrestling match between the android and the changeling, Starfire herself walked in. "Greetings, new friends! Might you like to partake in some nectar?"

Link scratched his green-capped head. "What's nectar?"

With his eyes widened, Robin shakily said, "S-she means mustard."

"Right…"

From the couch, Fox groaned.

"He is awakening!" the alien exclaimed.

"Good," Robin began. "Hope he's not aggressive at the moment."

Rubbing his furry head, Fox sat up. "Where… where am I?"

Putting down his breakfast implements, Robin cautiously approached the vulpine hero. "You're in Titan's Tower. Who are you?"

"Fox… Fox McCloud…" He winced. "Who… are you?"

Without a second thought, Robin responded, "I'm Robin, and we are the Teen Titans. Are you from Earth?"

Frowning, Fox said, "No."

Robin narrowed his eyes. "Then where?"

Fox sat up. "Are you familiar… with the Lylat System?"

0=0

Samus walked through the streets of Jump City cautiously yet aimlessly. Countless citizens passed by her without a second glance. She was in her full armored regalia, standing tall and bright orange. Her armor shone in the morning sun, and her arm cannon glinted in the eyes of many.

"Aren't these people frightened?" She uttered. "I _could _be dangerous." She looked above at the concrete jungle. "So… is this what Earth is like? It's quaint."

A faint hum could be heard from above. Gasping, Samus aimed her arm cannon up to the morning sky.

There was nothing.

An airborne ripple.

As Samus got into a battle-ready stance, citizens finally began to take note and watched her warily. Her gun pointed upwards. The ripple expanded. Samus fired off a pair of small beams at the ripple, but they disappeared. The people gasped. From the ripple emerged a gigantic leaf, flailing like a dangling human hand.

Within her helmet, Samus' eyebrows furrowed. _Is… is it stuck?_

Large, over-exaggerated spitting noises emitted from the ripple. Small brown pellets showered the streets as the citizens screamed and scattered. Samus grit her teeth and fired her cannon at the storm of what looked like mud fell to the ground. Her orange shots impacted some, but were unfazed by the energy. They fell all the same. As they splattered across the asphalt and concrete, they rapidly grew tree-like, with long stalks, and culminated in a large, spherical bulb on each stalk. Each of the bulbs divided in half, revealing that each bulb was a head of… something with multitudes of sharp teeth. In moments each bulb-beast-thing rose from its respective pile of goop and dripped brown globules of saliva.

_Disgusting, _she thought.

The bulbs bared their teeth and began inching closer and closer while gnashing their mud-covered fangs.

They lunged.

0=0

"So you're a pilot?" Beast Boy piped up from atop the stove. "On top of being a fox?" He frowned. _He looks __**really **__familiar…_

Blinking, Fox now stood in their midst. "That's right. I'm part of a mercenary team back in my galaxy."

Standing by a counter alongside Beast Boy, Cyborg asked, "So what brings you here? Our airspace doesn't have very many intergalactic invasions, much less a war."

Fox narrowed his deep blue eyes. "I followed my wingmate into what seemed to be a portal, hoping to save him. But," he looked distressed. "I ended up here and out of contact with the rest of my comrades, too."

"Do you have any leads on where they might be?"

"As soon as I crash-landed here, I tried opening communication lines with them, but they all failed, every single one of them."

Robin crossed his arms. "Well, we'll help in whatever way we can. I'm sure that—" Red lights flashed as sirens blared.

Descending from above, Raven merely uttered, "Where's the danger?"

Rushing to the computer, Robin quickly input several keystrokes. "Seems to be on Main Street and Third. It's affecting a large area."

Cyborg hopped over the sofa. "Who is it this time?"

The changeling shrugged. "All the major ones we've put behind bars."

Robin brought up an image. Puddles of mud littered the streets, and in the center of it all was a lone, orange figure.

"Clayface…?" the android inquired.

Calmly, Mario walked over and squinted at the photograph. "No. Piranha Plants…" He hopped up to the window. "Let's go," he called out as he jumped _all _the way down and onto the bridge leading away from Titan's Tower to the mainland.

"Since when did he give orders?" Beast Boy puzzled.

0=0

Samus did her best to blast away hordes of creatures. She grit her teeth beneath her visor. "There's just no end to these things! I blast them down, and then they rise back up!" She charged up a beam, aimed, and fired at a dangerously close one. It was about to clamp down on her arm cannon, but was blasted apart into globules of mud. She jumped up and somersaulted over a trio of bulbous mouths, firing her weapon at point-blank range. A green light on the back of Samus' left hand glowed, and she flicker her wrist towards an approaching maw. A thin surge of electricity shot out from the light and _latched _onto the beast. It froze. Samus pulled her arm back, yanking the muddy creature from its muddy roots and into the air. Samus grinned. She thrust her arm up, hoisting the creature up by an electrical thread, and then violently and swiftly urged it across multiple lines of muddy creatures.

Mud merged with mud, however, and the warrior's efforts were wasted. She recalled the electricity, ready to fire again.

Snarling, she pointed the light at another creature, latching another beam of electricity onto it. As she did so, a bulbous head latched its jaws onto Samus' arm cannon. She narrowed her eyes and tried to twist her arm towards the beast's maw. She grunted. "Damn it!" As she struggled, she found herself immersed in muddy jaws and muddy roots around her feet.

She was one step behind. Samus' left handed beam retracted. Some creatures trudged into the way of the beam, interrupting its course between Samus' hand and its muddy comrade. Grunting, she tried to jump up and free herself, but the oozing mouths pinned her down. She was trapped.

"Perfect. I'm being beaten by muddy _weeds_," Samus grumbled.

The monsters closed in.

A bright blue beam washed over her arm. "What?" she uttered.

A pair of green balls of energy impacted the muddy creatures clamping on her arm cannon.

Fireballs soared down and burnt away the ones that entwined her legs. Now free, she somersaulted forward, generating a field of serrated orange energy. She plowed through the air and the creatures ahead of her, obliterating them. She uncurled, planting orange-armored boots to the asphalt. The warrior's arm cannon widened, revealing trenches of purple electricity in its form. She began charging electricity at its muzzle and aimed it at an approaching plant.

"Titans," a distant voice called out, "GO!"

Robin soared down on a grappling hook, brandishing his bo-staff. He swung at a Piranha Plant about to bite Samus' head. "RRRAAAAUGH!" It was knocked backwards into another creature, which he promptly kicked with a steel-toed boot. "YAAH!"

As the Boy Wonder pummeled from behind, Samus fired off a ball of pulsating purple plasma, which promptly shocked a nearby plant and caused it to convulse and writhe in muddy agony. After a few seconds it disintegrated. Grinning beneath her visor, she charged up another to repeat, running down the street in the process.

Beast Boy charged in as a gorilla, swiping his meaty fists across hordes of muddy plants. He grasped one bulb in each hand and smashed them together, causing the mud to converge and wrap around the green beast's hands. He morphed into a kangaroo and swiftly kicked the opposition away. The combined muddiness collapsed into another of their kind, and they all sloppily reformed, baring ever-dirty teeth.

Meanwhile, Starfire charged in with blazing emerald eyes. She flung a pair of starbolts down to the ground, igniting a pair of muddy plants. "HAA! HAAA!" As they burned, they cried out in plantlike… agony, and slowly incinerated. The Tamaranian charged two more bolts and hurled them at more muddy monsters. Not every shot made their mark, but the creatures had to begin swerving their leafless stalks to and fro to avoid being preemptively fried.

"RAAUGH!" Cyborg merely obliterated waves of Piranha Plants with blasts from his sonic cannon. However, just as the beams bathed the creatures in sonic fury, more and more popped up from the sloshing remains of their brethren. They grew more intelligent, too, and just as with Starfire, the creatures soon were able to dodge the beams with relative ease.

At the top of a building, Mario simply tossed fireball after fireball down to the fray. "How did-a so many get-a here?" A spitting sound. A puddle of mud landed behind him from above. He brought both hands together and formed a large ball of orange flame, launching it at the rising stalk of mud. It incinerated with a gurgling howl.

"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" Raven chanted. She extended a black energy-encased hand towards a group of advancing plants. Behind her, a pair of cars were covered from bumper to bumper in the same energy, being flung out to the heart of the crowd, crushing them into mush. "How do we stop these things?" The sorceress formed a black shield just as another group lashed their bulbous heads at her robed figure.

Link busied himself beheading several muddy plants in an instant upon the asphalt. He spun about on one foot, cutting down a single wave that bared their muddy teeth. The heads that fell splashed to the ground, where muddy roots absorbed them. Just as soon as the elven warrior slashed, the creatures re-grew their severed parts. "These aren't anything like the Babas in Hyrule…" He backflipped to avoid a lunging maw. In midair, in one quick motion he sheathed his sword, holstered his shield, and pulled out a bow and a sparking arrow. "They're more like Chus…" Squinting one eye, he let loose the projectile, striking the base of several Piranha Plants with a harsh explosion. To himself he noted that they weren't really like plants like Mario said earlier.

Fox stood atop a building opposite Mario. He whipped out a pistol and fired off precision, rapid fire laser bolts at random mud creatures. "Come on…" He shot down another. However, just as he guns one down with beams of light, another steps… _oozes _in its place. He growled. He turned, aimed, and fired at a descending mud puddle. "There's just no end to these guys!"

Beast Boy morphed back into elf form to gawk. "Dude, he's a good shot." Promptly, he was tackled by a charging mouth. "DAAH!" As the creature bit down, the changeling morphed into a bear, slashing up its muddy maw.

0=0

"I'm quite impressed, Bowser. Your army of Piranha Plants is proving quite durable," Slade mused. He pressed his fingers together in thought as he sat atop his darkened throne. The scant amber lighting gave no hint to Slade's companion save a very _large _silhouette. "Though I admit that they are not quite… aesthetically pleasing."

All the despot earned in response was a frustrated growl. "But with that stupid _plumber _they're going to make it _such _a cakewalk!" Ignoring the snide remark, Bowser then uttered under smoky breath, "Petey's doing a sloppy job, too..."

"Patience, Bowser. Patience."

0=0

Samus blasted a plant with purple plasma. It writhed, it shook, and it tried to bite. Samus jumped away, planting armored feet into the goopy craniums of two adjacent mouths. Thrusters in her back activated, and she somersaulted up and away from the fray. _They just don't stop… _She charged up electricity in her cannon's muzzle and looked around for a target. As she did so, she pointed it towards a pulsating, warbling, congregating mass of mud. She gasped. The two creatures she had just kicked down sloshed towards the mud pile, imprints of Samus' boots still intact. She fired at one of them, but it did not flinch. It didn't even convulse like it would have previously. It moved sloppily along the concrete like so many of its brethren.

Link was the first to bear surprise at the spectacle. He had just cut a stalk in two, and both pieces—the bulbous head and the roots—began messily marching past the green warrior without a thought to attack. He was just about to strike with his sword, but nothing struck first. Purely reactionary.

In like manner each of the Titans found their opponents breaking combat. Each and every one of them regrouped at an intersection before the putrid mass, gaping.

The Titans and their companions simply watched as the ooze writhed together in muddy glory. As the last of the plants joined in, the mass coiled up around itself like an upside-down tornado. The young heroes watched in awe (or horror) as the apex grew to the height of a skyscraper… up to the flailing leaf above.

Robin pointed. "Titans! Whatever it is, don't let it reach that thing!" He fired a grappling hook up to a building side as the flight-capable Titans took to the skies. Cyborg took point and aimed his sonic cannon up at the tip. Samus and Link did likewise with her own arm cannon and his bomb arrows. Mario found an alley between a nearby skyscraper and a shorter building and jumped from wall to wall. Upon landing on the shorter building, he hopped up on powerful legs and landed on the side of the skyscraper. He then vaulted off and landed squarely in the writhing mass. Mario charged fire in his palms and grunted as he planted them into the mud.

Nothing happened.

…To the creature, that is. From underneath Mario the creature formed a tentacle and without grace… promptly shoved the red-capped hero off and into the building side.

Cyborg fired beam after beam of sonic fury. The blue blasts seemed to have little to no effect on the creature, though. The concentrated sound waves managed to penetrate the goop through to the other side, leaving a gaping and dripping hole. The android pumped his fist and gleefully shouted, "Boo-ya!" Then his jaw dropped and his one human eye widened.

The giant mud tentacle's hole closed up with a sickening sound, then produced another tentacle, like a branch, and propelled it towards the titanium Titan. It quickly flicked away the android like a finger swatting a pesky insect.

Chanting quietly, Raven thought it her turn. Her eyes glowed a hot gray as she sat cross-legged in the air. Her robe billowed, and a pitch-black bird flew from her center. The bird spread its wings as if experiencing flight for the first time, and swiftly darted into the tower of mire.

A flash.

_A hazy yellow sky._

"_Merge light and shadow…_

_..eate Twil…"_

_Inhuman shrieks._

"_LINK!"_

_A darkened castle. A poisoned moat._

"_No one's home!"_

_A cave, lit with iridescent blue. _

"_Death to the Hunter!"_

_A meaty, dark blue hand. A slow-motion slash._

"_RAAAAAAWWR!"_

_A single, emblazoned eye._

_Robin's echoing voice. "Slade…"_

_Blue._

_Crates leaking blue._

_A red-eyed army._

"_Go and do not falter, my child!"_

A flash.

Raven was driven to the ground. Her bird-like soul self rushed back to her in a defeated squawk. Beast Boy floated down as a hawk, morphed back into elf form, and quickly asked, "Raven, are you alright?"

The sorceress rubbed her head. She groaned and uttered with a frown, "Yes, I'm fine…" She paused. "What was_ that_?"

"I don't know, Raven, but we can't stop it!" Beast Boy cried. "It keeps reforming and reforming… it's like clay!"

Silence. Then Robin found himself sliding backward on steel. "Then we'll have to burn it down. Mario! Starfire!" He called. "Now!"

High above, Mario stood at the edge of the roof of a skyscraper. Starfire floated on the opposite side of the beast as its rising tentacle flailed in muddy majesty. He narrowed his blue eyes as he formed blazing orange fire in his hands. She gathered fiery green energy in her hands as the same lit her eyes in righteous fury. He brought his palms behind him, allowing the fire to grow to encompass his arms in a flaming orb. His eyes burned with yellow light as the Tamaranian's starbolt grew to immense sizes. With a feral yell, Starfire unleashed her giant, green fireball. "RRRAAAUUGH!" It exploded against the towering mud tentacle, creating a cloud of putrid smoke. She held her position in midair, examining her handiwork.

When the smoke cleared, she saw the mostly unharmed state of the mire. The area she had just attacked sprouted a muddy branch and struck her gut. She flew back with a grunt.

Mario took his turn, forcing his palms forward. "Oh yeah!" The two fireballs in his hand surged as twin dragon heads, spiraling around each other like a fiery drill. "Mario Finale!" the capped teen cried. As the twin heads rammed into the tentacle, it was forced to slide backwards on its wide, muddy roots. Starfire cleared out of the way as it slammed into the building. Steam rose from the creature's side and it writhed in what seemed to be… pain. Mario himself doubled over in exhaustion. "Mama mia…"

The tentacle halted its leaf-bound ascent and reached down to grasp Mario in its muddy clutch. He grunted and struggled, but the last attack did its number on the hero. He was too weak to break free on his own.

Robin growled, hurling explosive discs near the tentacle's tip. They ignited, but the muck stood (squirmed?) firm. Starfire followed suit, flinging bolt after bolt at the same location. Cyborg rushed in, firing his sonic cannon in concert. Samus and Link launched projectiles in like manner. However, all their efforts proved to do just about nothing, as the tentacle writhed just as awkwardly and mushily as before.

Instead of releasing the boy due to being attack, the tentacle instead threw Mario down to the ground. Cyborg panicked for a brief second before catching him in widespread titanium arms.

The tentacle then shot up to the sky and the dangling leaf. Robin called out, "NO!" Without heeding the voice, the speed of the muddy appendage grew immensely. In no time at all it reached the leaf, coiled around it, and tugged it through the portal.

The leaf was attached to a green body. It seemed to be wearing… some manner of underwear, red with white polka dots. Below that was a pair of ridiculously stubby legs (which one can only assume _were _legs), but on the opposite end of the body was an _enormous, _bulbous head. It was spherical, like the creatures from before, but it had color. Vivid color. The pattern adorning its "underpants" also covered its head, and a ring of yellow flower petals circled the back of its head, making it resemble some really strange kind of sunflower. Green lips framed dagger-like teeth lining the mouth. It jumped (somehow) out of the tentacle's grasp and onto the top of the appendage itself. It roared, loudly and proudly. As it did so, a flock of tentacles emerged from the tentacle's side, aiming to wrap themselves around each hero.

All except Robin and Link succumbed to this. The Boy Wonder hastily pulled out a staff, twirled it, and batted away a muddy tentacle. "I've dealt with freaks like you before…" He produced a taser. "And freaks like you don't like electricity!" He stabbed it into the advancing appendage, making it writhe in awkward spasms, but altogether it did very little. Robin continued to swing his staff in multiple directions, halting each advance of the tentacle.

Link worked in similar fashion, brandishing his blade and slashing the limb at every progression. One attempt found itself rushing past the blade, but met a metal shield. It then split itself at the point of impact, coiling itself around both the green-clad hero and his shield. Gritting his teeth, he angrily spun in the air like a steel cyclone, slashing up the tentacle.

0=0

"You're working too slowly, Petey!" Bowser called from beside Slade's cold throne. "I don't want to have to send the rest of the Koopa Troop just to get rid of these pipsqueaks!"

Slade rested his masked head on his knuckles. "It seems to me that you aren't familiar with the concept of faith." The two were watching the action from multiple viewscreens, up to and including the giant Piranha Plant's ungraceful entrance.

He was met with a growl. "He's a dimwitted beast… I can't have much faith."

Darkly, under his breath, Slade replied, "Much like someone I'm familiar with."

"_What was that_?!"

0=0

Link and Robin stood side-by-side as they launched explosives up at the plant up above. Though without warning, a flock of tentacles emerged from the main one and blocked the waddling Petey from harm.

Robin was struck with realization. "It's that plant! It's controlling the mud!"

Nodding, Link prepared three bomb arrows. He held them against his bow, aimed them…

...and was stopped by another bouquet of mud. It flung Link skyward, towards the gigantic maw of the overgrown Piranha Plant. Mouth open wide, Link fell into a very unsightly abyss.

"LINK!" Robin yelled. Below his feet marked the remnants of split tentacles. They sprang to life, enveloping the Boy Wonder's feet and reconnecting with its base. "Huh? WHOAA!" Dazed, he flew up high, but regained his focus in a critical moment.

It was too late. Petey swallowed him as well. It pat its belly with a leaf, as if just finishing a feast.

"No…"

The only sound then was Starfire's scream.

"**ROBIN!**"


	3. After

The Tamaranian's cry echoed throughout the emptied streets. Even the other fighters were silenced. In a violent burst of green light, Starfire freed herself from the muddy clutches and soared skyward.

"You will release my friends!" she firmly stated. She raised a starbolt-charged fist at Petey's gigantic face. The monster roared ferociously, loosing bits of saliva. Starfire flinched, and that was all the moment needed. The side of the tentacle closest to the alien warrior let loose with a flock of tentacles, all aiming to wrap about her. She saw this, however, and fired green blasts from her eyes into the oncoming threat.

The tentacles burned and writhed under the heat, and shriveled up into its origin. Petey roared once more, but instead spat an enormous blob of mud at the girl. She fell with it, landing hard on the concrete and covered by sticky brown saliva.

Cyborg cried from his muddy confinement, "Star!"

Raven growled as she chanted once more, "Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" The sorceress' eyes glowed white as her hands extended outward. Blades of black energy whipped like a cutting whirlwind into the flocks of tentacles, freeing each hero, even Starfire.

Beast Boy morphed into a Tyrannosaurus, roared, and charged the mountain of mire with his head.

Samus charged electric shots and fired them alongside Cyborg's sonic blasts.

Mario, still winded, jumped back up to his post, throwing fireball after fireball. Starfire did likewise from an aerial standpoint, while Fox sped along nearby, firing lasers.

0=0

The ten-foot silhouette next to Slade trudged out behind the throne, towards the captives. "Slade, you're sure the fact we have these nitwits locked up is going to help any?" he growled.

The despot folded his hands and narrowed his eye. "All things come into play sooner or later, my scaly friend. But perhaps you'd like to speed things along?"

Pointed teeth glinted in the amber lighting.

Without even looking back, the masked villain coolly replied, "Then begin Phase 2."

0=0

Starfire charged at the giant plant repeatedly with a starbolt-shrouded fist, but each time was hindered by a collection of mud. The concoction shielded the plant perfectly. Even the blasts aimed below at the base proved largely ineffective, as the mud was seemingly unharmed after the greatest attempts to smash it apart or blow it away. It was a battle of attrition, and the plant with its battalion of mud had the obvious upper hand.

The tentacles lashed out, striking at air and ground, on and off-target alike. Their movements were growing wilder as the battle raged on. Its gigantic, muddy base sloshed towards Titan's Tower.

Cyborg enthusiastically cried from the ground, "Let's bring it down!" He fired a small grappling hook from his forearm at the monster, remarkably unnoticed. Even as Cyborg began to pull, however, strands of mud began pulling opposite the android. He strained and strained, servos and wires beneath the translucent blue plating glowed violently. Starfire ceased her bombardment and just like a previous fight with the monster Ternion, the two Titans began to pull. Unlike their previous bout, the powerhouse Titans won the tug-of-war with this behemoth… though not in the way that they would have preferred. Instead of pulling the entire beast to the ground, a sizable section was _ripped _clean off, revealing very plantlike, green skin beneath it.

Everyone stopped for a brief moment. "It's just a shell…" Fox murmured.

As if it heard, the creature began spinning like a top. The ground rumbled from below, and it sprouted far too many tentacles to count. Beast Boy charged in as a Triceratops, but was promptly knocked aside by the whirling shield of mud. Even the longer ranged shots of the other Titans were deflected from the high-speed spin.

Its body twirled like a tornado once more, with the overgrown Piranha Plant atop it nonchalantly. It roared, and mud inched its way up its body. Its giant green lips curved as it was covered from eyeless head to… toeless feet with the substance. It stopped its whirling, and in a sickening sound, the creature became one with the mud, and the tentacle grew an enormous, bulbous head, easily capable of swallowing each and every fighter in one gulp. It had lips like its previous form, dripping with that same ooze.

Roaring, it reared its head back with its maw agape.

"Everybody move!" Cyborg shouted.

Several of the fighters were in harm's way, and immediately dove aside to avoid the creature's crunching jaws.

Slowly bringing up its head, the fused monster left in its wake a huge crater the width of the street and sidewalk. Ooze pooled at the very bottom and dripped from muddy lips above. It swallowed the debris, and promptly uttered a sickening belch.

Beast Boy found it within himself to laugh. "Nice!"

Samus calmly walked over and batted the changeling aside. "Now's not the time."

"Dude, I thought only Raven hits me!"

As the named sorceress floated down, she mused, "I don't have to, I suppose." She levitated up to the giant Piranha Plant and summoned a giant wave of dark energy. As the creature moved in to clamp its jaws down, she urged her hands forth and telekinetically shoved it back. With a shout, Starfire threw a flurry of starbolts at its approaching head. Several explosions clouded the alien's view, and she paused to examine. Several tentacles spurted from the smoke and grasped her, and soon the remainder of the creature emerged.

It prepared to make a snack of Starfire, but Samus somersaulted up with serrated energy, plowing into the beast's head. The energy dug into its muddy skull, and the warrior backflipped off. As she descended, she fired a grappling beam at a building side while charging up purple energy. As she swung, she let loose her cannon. Pulsating purple waves emanated across the surface of the creature, which caused it to momentarily halt.

Mario came plummeting down with a fiery, white-gloved fist. He pounded it into the goo, calling on the power of gravity and his own weight to cause the creature to bend down slightly from the strain. It whined and growled, and loosed a flock of tentacles to whip the Italian off.

Beast Boy morphed into an armored dinosaur, an Ankylosaurus. Cyborg stood nearby, and grasped the changeling's clubbed tail. He swung the green dinosaur round and round, launching him like a giant rock from a sling. Beast Boy flew through the air and heavily impacted the giant head with astounding force. The creature was plowed down to the asphalt, where it lay motionless. A large patch of bright red skin could be seen where Beast Boy impacted the creature's head. Surrounding the "wound" were caked edges of mud.

As she was released from the muddy grip, Starfire inquired, "We are victorious?"

Just as she asked, the beast rose up once more, its skin still exposed.

Sarcastically, Raven quipped, "You just _had _to ask."

The monster extended its stalk higher, pulling its head up and issuing a mighty roar from its gaping jaws. Large, pointed teeth were exposed beneath the slimy lips, dripping goo.

Fox dashed in, jumped up towards the exposed red skin and began delivering a rapid series of kicks, rotating his body like a pirouette in midair. The monster flinched at each strike, yet extended a number of muddy appendages again to strike. They whipped the animal down like he was a ball. Fox careened down at the concrete, forming a crater. Both his breath and his consciousness were taken from him.

0=0

"Three Titans down. This is rather disappointing," Slade mused. He moved from his throne to directly in front of the screens. He had every angle in view. "Perhaps this Petey of yours was too much for them to handle, Bowser."

Lumbering, stomping steps urged their way towards the brazen mask. "I didn't think Petey was going to transform."

"I thought you had a job to do."

A growling chuckle came from the darkness. "I may be slow of step, but the job's taken care of."

Slade made no response.

A few moments of silence passed, and Slade muttered to the darkness, "Your minion will need saving."

"He's doing fine! Can't you see—?"

"_Go._"

Bowser grumbled something incoherent.

0=0

The creature howled victoriously. As it prepared to slam its head down to make a snack of the fox, slime dripped from its lips like drool. It charged. Mario began to move.

Just as suddenly as it started to move, it stopped. Mario did likewise, confused. The creature shook and shuddered. Then, without warning, it coughed up the green-clad swordsman and the Titan Leader. Link's feet were covered in different boots than previously seen. They shone with metallic luster along nearly every point. In his hand was a gauntlet-like device with a tripartite claw fixture at the end. The two heroes were covered in thick saliva.

Starfire was the first to rush in. "Robin! You are unharmed!" she squeezed him in a crunching embrace, which the Boy Wonder knew was heartfelt, but nonetheless cringed at his human bones being fractured. His left arm—humorously—was bent at an awkward angle. The alien was simply happy, yet would be caught unaware at her friend's lack of response.

"…Robin?"

Unfortunately for the heroes, both Robin and Link were incapacitated. Short three members, the group found itself pressed to hold its advantage over the slouching creature. It coughed up globules of saliva, dripping down just like its own muddy armor. It grumbled and growled, lurching forward with impressive speed towards the recently spat-up victims. Glinting fangs drew closer and closer.

Time slowed down as Cyborg stretched his titanium hand out, lunging towards his leader and his new comrade. Beast Boy morphed into a cheetah and dashed with the wind. Starfire, where she was, could only stand with eyes widened in fear. Her arms and legs were locked; a paralyzing force pinned her down. She could not even scream. Raven's eyes glowed as her hands pulsed. Mario charged up fire in his hands, jumping towards the beast.

No one made it to the rescue in time. Jaws clamped around Starfire, Robin, Fox, and Link. The ground caved in further around its head as it trudged its fangs through the concrete plate.

Something rumbled.

The noise came again. The giant Piranha Plant was forced upwards slightly, then a little more, then completely off the ground. The noise was clear now; it was a violent scraping. It was being pushed back.

Starfire looked above her to see a vicious torrent of orange energy. The creature yelped in pain, trying to fight against the new threat. It was in vain, however, and the energy was beginning to slice through the unarmored mouth.

Cyborg grinned in relief. "You go, girl!"

An airborne ripple shuddered behind the creature. Time resumed its normal course as the giant was being pushed into it, and suddenly relented. Petey lifted his head upwards, letting the orange energy saw buzz through the air. The creature's bulbous head fell backwards through the portal, but severed the tentacle from it in the process. The muddy armor lost its cohesion and collapsed into a wave of browned liquid.

Unfortunately, the Titans and their comrades were left in the wake of Petey's sudden disappearance. The force compressing the armor must have been unimaginably great, as the liquid exploded into the streets. However, there was a good side to this mess: the fact that all that remained _was _simply a mess.

As the muck grew more and more shallow (and by extension, more widespread), the heroes found themselves at last in relative safety. They looked on at the scene, and simultaneously sighed.

Reportedly, mud is easily cleaned.

0=0

Once the assembled crew of nine heroes returned to Titan's Tower, Robin stood in front of the main room's large black sofa. His comrades stood and sat before him, alert. His face held a slight grin, bursting with certain eagerness. "Now," he began. "We don't normally do things this way. However, seeing what you all were capable of doing today, I'd like to ask all of you to remain here as a part of our team."

Raven's eyes shot up, but said nothing.

Starfire clasped her hands together and jumped in glee. "Glorious!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg both held similar opinions, laughing and high fiving each other.

Samus, however, beneath her helmet formed a barely perceptible frown. "Sorry, I work alone." She turned for the door. "Thanks anyway."

The Tamaranian was instantly distressed. She rushed up and hovered before the armor suit. "Please! You must stay! We are all eager to work alongside one another, are we not?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy chimed. "Besides, you totally kicked that Piranha-whatever the heck it was' butt with that wicked spin attack of yours."

"We could definitely use your help," Robin added.

Samus was obstinate. "I'll be on my way." She gently pushed the alien aside. In moments she was out the door.

"What's her deal?" Beast Boy muttered. "We're trying to be friendly and she goes and shoves us around."

"Drop it, Beast Boy." Robin responded sharply. "If that's how she wants to work, then that's how it'll be."

The three who remained of the newcomers sat silently.

"What about the rest of you? Are you in?"

Mario and Link looked at each other from across the sofa. Neither said a word, though their silence betrayed an answer.

From behind those two Fox casually stated, "I'd think we prefer doing things our own way."

Steadily the five Titans' gazes turned more and more downward. Mario's and Link's followed suit, although theirs was more out of realization than any other emotion. They had to leave. There was no other course to be taken. If they stayed, the whole of Jump City would be in jeopardy to an entirely new threat. If they left, the dangers were more likely to follow them instead.

"I had a feeling you'd say that," Robin said sadly. With a somewhat brighter countenance, he extended his hands. In his grasp were four bright yellow Titan communicators. They were circular and bore an emblazoned T on their casing. "Please take these with you, then. If there's any trouble at all, you know who to call."


	4. Advent

It had only been a meager day before trouble struck once more. Samus had been the first to leave, yet she would run into the first of many problems before all the others.

The orange-armored warrior walked northward alongside high hills and rugged peaks. Every few moments she would pause. Moonlight glistened off her metallic frame.

"Galactic Federation, do you copy?" she spoke into a panel on her arm cannon. Each time, however, she was met with dissatisfying static. With a groan, she frustratingly shut off her communications link after a few dozen tries.

"What in the _world _is going on here…" she mumbled.

A stone fell loose.

Alerted, Samus deftly turned on her heel to point at the source of the noise.

There was nothing.

She looked left, and then looked right. Still there was nothing on radar or in her sights. Despite the obvious signs—or lack thereof—she continued to be suspicious. The warrior's arm cannon transformed. Its muzzle bloomed like a flower, with a red-tipped warhead at its center. Samus became motionless. Only the faint sound and movement caused by her breathing remained. She was waiting, patiently, for the slightest of disturbances. Another fallen pebble would signal to her the necessity of defense.

Within her helmet, several HUD displays were monitoring her surroundings.

There was a faint ripple… a tiny blip on her radar. In a split second she turned and fired a missile. It careened and exploded not two meters away, and another missile was loaded in its place.

In the scorched rubble there was nothing.

She glowered at the spot in question, miffed for obvious reasons.

Behind her, there was another ripple. This time, however, there was a figure in the dim light of the moon. It was a jester, clothed in yellow, purple, and black. Upon his face was a mask with a deceptively smiling face: half black, half white. Bells chimed from atop his hat as he gently landed upon the gravel.

Samus turned slowly this time, eager not to make a mistake in aim. "What are you supposed to be?" she scoffed through her helmet.

The jester chuckled. He gestured to himself, and then with a grand flair, he twirled his fingers to let loose fireworks from his gloved hands. With another lighthearted chuckle, he bowed. "I am merely an entertainer. Such is the duty of a court jester."

"Cute. Now, if you don't excuse me…" the warrior readied another missile, aimed squarely at the clown's masked face. "I'd like to be on my way."

With yet another chuckle, the comic snapped his fingers, rippling out of the space before Samus had even thought of firing. He casually reappeared just above her, landing and standing atop her shoulders. "I should have you know, I am not violent by nature." He playfully tapped her visor, and in the blink of an eye he vanished once more.

Angrily she had tried to swat him away so she could get a clear shot, but he was too nimble. She growled and retracted her weapon. If he could zip around endlessly like he had been doing, then she was clearly ill-equipped for the situation.

Reappearing, the jester began juggling purple balls of fire. "But perhaps you'd prefer to fight, as many a cretin such as yourself would enjoy." One by one the flames were sent in Samus' direction, all the while the jester wore the same facetious grin as his mask. "Come at me!"

Samus grimaced, and steadied her aim at the clown. He made yet another chuckle, and this time, it sounded far more like a smirk. The jester lobbed more fireballs, and Samus reprimanded herself for not shooting sooner. She instead pointed the muzzle towards the oncoming storm, and fired shots of similarly purple electricity in the clown's direction. Each fireball sizzled and each bolt dissipated, leaving Samus alone in the rocky field without her opponent in sight. She was far more wary this time, and cautiously scanned the outcroppings.

She didn't need to look long. The distinct chiming of the jester's bells alerted her, and she wheeled about to fire a charged bolt of electricity.

It made impact. The clown shouted in surprise and pain, and was sent flying through the air. As he crashed upon the stones, Samus casually readjusted her aim, and the whirring of her weapon filled the air.

Despite the abject pain that he was experiencing and the violent twitching he was displaying, the clown stood once more, and began to levitate. Tiny bolts of energy began to flit off his slightly charred form. Even though masks are not meant to change expression, the fact that it still wore the same cocksure Cheshire grin unnerved Samus, and she hesitated.

"Well… w-well…" the clown managed. "I severely underestimated you." The last of the bolts quit their jumping. Brushing himself off, the figure snapped his fingers. As he did so, a transparent square grew behind him, engulfed him, and then disappeared with him with a small chime. The square reappeared just above Samus' arm cannon, expanded, and revealed the clown once more, now unmarred. "I commend you for damaging me, even if it was only temporary. However, I do think I've dallied far too long." Samus swung her cannon, like swatting at a really big insect. However, the strange, transporting square appeared again, taking the clown with it. The voice emerged from behind the warrior's helmet. "Continuing to fight you, though, would make me in the wrong, like a knife in a gunfight."

"You're pretty confident."

"I would be remiss if I stayed here like a vulture to a carcass. So, with that, I will take time to finish you off later. Ciao!" And just as he said, he conjured another square and vanished.

As he disappeared, Samus clenched her armored fist.

"Arrogant prick."

0=0

Samus was not the only one to encounter issues. Not too long and not too far from her location, Mario encountered an enemy of a different sort. His opponent was, in short, an armored, humanoid Tyrannosaurus. Now Mario didn't stand very tall himself, but what was before him was quite the giant. Green scales lined his figure, and atop his head was a horned helmet. Plate mail adorned his chest and shoulders, leaving defined musculature bare. Faded bracers preceded two clawed fingers and a clawed thumb on the right arm, and two very distinctive, pirate-like hooks on the left. The creature stood on strong legs, each foot bearing the mark of a predator: thick talons.

Mario found himself on the receiving end of a blow from the giant's left arm. He grasped the two hooks as he was shoved towards a tree. The reptile laughed in a very human manner, despite his very obviously saurian maw. The hooks and the pointed, ivory teeth glinted in the silvery moonlight as the Italian struggled against his binding. The creature chuckled. "You fight well, ape." He sounded as if he came from the United Kingdom… if reptiles could speak in human tongues and in distinct accents. "But, I tire of this."

"You're-a-tired?" Mario struggled. "Then… let's-a-play my game…" His white gloves burned orange with flames, and the heat traveled easily into the hooks that bound him. Soon that heat transferred down the gauntlet and into the arm, causing the creature to recoil in pain.

"You wretch!" He charged, drawing a chipped scimitar from his waist. The creature yelled and swung down, barely missing the plumber who dodged with a roll. With reptilian eyes, the creature glowered upon Mario's moonlit form. The plumber readied his fists with fire, all-too prepared to battle. The reptile seemed to smile, perhaps in admiration. Lunging, he swung his blade across, messily chopping down the nearest tree. As it fell, Mario darted aside and covered himself from the oncoming shards of foliage. Amidst the cloud of debris, the reptile jumped above the plumber and drew his scimitar back, ready to impale.

When the creature landed, however, the only thing the blade met was dirt. Snarling, his slit, orange eyes darted not to one, but to two figures. "Fox McCloud. How good of you to join us!"

Fox crouched beside a bewildered Mario, who in his daze set about readjusting his cap. Fox's ears perked up, and he shot a glance at the assailant. "Scales. What are you doing here?"

The beast growled. "_General _Scales. You _will _address me properly."

Fox smirked and stood up. "Well, I think you're out of your element. This is not your planet."

Scales chuckled in response. "My element? Foolish boy! _Battle _is my element!" He gripped his blade, unearthing it with haste. "_You, _young pup, are out of _your _element." He roared, swiping down with his cooled hooks. Mario snapped out of his confusion and dashed between the two combatants. Empowering his hands with fire, he caught and gripped Scales' hooks with fervor. Glowering, Scales slashed with his blade.

Fox kicked the blade aside and out of Scales' claws. In that brief moment of surprise, Fox carried his momentum and roundhouse kicked Scales in the face with armored boots, sending him stumbling a few feet.

Unmarred, Scales turned to face the two slowly. "It seems that our sides are now rather even. I hope that your tenacity continues should we meet again." He calmly walked towards his scimitar.

Fox drew his blaster and steadied his aim at the General's head.

Without even looking, Scales picked up his weapon and said, "Foolish pup. You and your apelike friend should run and hide in the time to come."

"What do you mean?"

Turning, the creature stared down at the two. "You don't understand, do you? Already the lives of your friends and the lives of your enemies are becoming vastly intertwined. You cannot possibly fathom the breadth of what is happening as we speak."

Confused, Mario spoke up. "What _is_-a happening?"

Scales' face showed a knowing look. "Oh, you shall see soon enough." A ripple formed behind him. "You trials have begun."

Fox's eye twitched, and he shot at his opponent's head, but it had already disappeared through the ripple. He fired several more shots at what remained, but Scales had slipped through the ripple and vanished.

In that moment, Fox and Mario understood little of Scales' cryptic words. As they remained in the aftermath of that skirmish, they both came to the same conclusion. "Fox calling Robin. Fox calling Robin. Do you copy?"

0=0

It was no coincidence at this point that battles were being conducted all over and outside Jump City. Link was no stranger to these battles; however, his opponent wasn't either. It was a massive, lanky, almost skeletal dragon. Its hide was covered in purple scales, and its eyes were a glowing yellow-green. Strong, orange-webbed wings flapped in the urban night sky.

Link was in constant motion away from this beast, as plumes of fire plummeted down like meteors on the street, licking at his heels. The dragon's screech pierced the night skies, yet Link refused to flinch and kept running. He looked over his shoulder, and the beast's silhouette filled the moonlit air. He scowled and muttered under heavy breaths, "What I wouldn't give for a little help…"

The creature's milky eyes stared down at the tiny green knight. With another screech, it breathed a plethora of fireballs down, leading the shots slightly. Link noticed this action and dodged as best he could. One plume crashed down onto his holstered shield, knocking him down. Seeing a prime moment of opportunity, the dragon made its descent, foreclaws bared.

The green knight urged himself to his feet, surrounded by swirling pillars of fire. He armed himself with his sword and shield. Another shriek later, and the dragon's toothed maw was nearly at the tip of Link's swung blade. It dragged along its snout, leaving a trail of sparks. The brief moment of surprise that Link experienced was window enough for it to snatch the knight up in its claws.

The dragon, feeling victorious, ascended high above the buildings. Link saw each window passing by, and he struggled in its grip all the while. He grunted and squirmed to free an arm; all the while the creature continued its journey skyward. Link reached behind him, produced a blue orb with a short fuse atop it. "This might sting a little," he muttered as he lit the bomb. Moonlit vermillion eyes darted towards the sparks, and the drake let Link fall from his grasp. The knight grunted; he hadn't expected the beast to take notice. But Link himself noticed something very important. He was falling.

Quickly regaining composure, Link threw the projectile as he began his ground-ward descent, and the dragon's tail swatted the miniscule thing away like it was an insect. It exploded in midair, leaving Link to silently curse as he reached behind him to pull out his clawed gauntlets, quickly mounting them on each arm. He pointed both devices towards a rapidly-approaching building, and he launched the claws at the brickwork. They both latched onto the material, and as Link felt it, he pressed a trigger to reel himself in. It was a risky measure, however, as he was still falling quite rapidly. As he headed towards the building, a familiar screech filled his ears. The creature was following him down like a hawk.

It breathed fire down at the knight, and when he contacted the building with the sound of cracking concrete, he aimed a device down to the ground, fired, and reeled himself down, barely escaping the wave of heat. The dragon seemed unconcerned however, and it barreled down almost as if it intended to ram into the knight and the street beneath him.

_I've gotta get out of here, _Link thought. _But I don't see any way out of this thing's sight…_

The drake swerved up and under the knight, catching him by surprise and in its jaws. Link's shield and sword kept its fangs from piercing his skin.

Link grunted. He didn't see a good way out of this mess. He groaned and struggled, trying desperately to keep himself from being eaten. All the while the dragon's shrieks filled his eardrums with disorienting pitch.

A projectile careened across the sky and into the dragon's chest. An explosion rocked its body and it lost focus, causing Link and the creature to fall to the ground. An orange flash blazed forth, grasping the knight in an armored left arm. The drake, stunned, crashed into the ground.

Samus landed gracefully, scraping along the ground in the remnants of high-speed movement. She released her grip on Link, to which he muttered a line of thanks. She nodded, and cocked her arm cannon. As the creature shook its head clear of concrete debris, it noted Samus' presence.

"Ridley! Freeze! I'll shoot you where you stand!"

"That creature has a name?!" Link was incredulous. "Well, no sense arguing." He drew his bow back, aiming at Ridley alongside Samus' readied missile launcher.

Ridley's milky eyes glowered down at them with irritation and defiance. He spread his gargantuan wings on the moonlit street, and instantly breathed a conflagration towards the two before him.

"Duck!" Samus yelled. Link, with not a moment to spare, instantly complied. As the flames cleared, both Link and Samus looked up, not seeing a trace of the creature.

"So strange," Link mumbled.


End file.
